Who Wants To Be A (Tax Decuctable) Millionaire?

[Kimarough]

Hey Guys :3
I did some research and found out what a realistic look at the classic money tree would look like with today's taxes.

Yeah. Not as much as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, but more as Who Wants To Win Little More Over Nine Hundred Grand?
Just a little fun thing I thought I might add in

Pop in what currency translations of other Millionaires you can find. Eg. Japans money tree converted into US currency!
I will look forward to see what comes up :3

[Gagamillionaire]

That can't be right, can it? I'm by no means an expert on taxes, but aren't the rates much higher? I would have said at least 30%, probably more, which is horrendous, by the way.

I know that winnings from the German and Austrian versions are tax-free, so converted into dollars, the trees would look like this:

Germany:

$1,390,320 (€1,000,000
$695,160 (€500,000)
$173,790 (€125,000)
$88,980 (€64,000)
$44,490 (€32,000)

$22,245 (€16,000)
$11,122 (€8,000)
$5,561 (€4,000)
$2,780 (€2,000)
$1,390 (€1,000)

$695 (€500)
$417 (€300)
$278 (€200)
$139 (€100)
$70 (€50)


Austria:

$1,390,320 (€1,000,000)
$417,096 (€300,000)
$208,548 (€150,000)
$104,274 (€75,000)
$41,710 (€30,000)

$20,855 (€15,000)
$13,903 (€10,000)
$6,951 (€5,000)
$2,780 (€2,000)
$1,390 (€1,000)

$695 (€500)
$556 (€400)
$417 (€300)
$278 (€200)
$139 (€100)

[Mario Vik]

Russian money tree (Old)
$2.5 (100 P)
$5 (200 P)
$7.5 (300 P)
$12.5 (500 P)
$25 (1,000 P)
$50 (2,000 P)
$100 (4,000 P)
$200 (8,000 P)
$400 (16,000 P)
$800 (32,000 P)
$1,600 (64,000 P)
$3,125 (125,000 P)
$6,250 (250,000 P)
$12,500 (500,000 P)
$25,000 (1,000,000 P)

Show name: Who Wants To Won 25,000

[futuregshost]

Just wondering, does anyone have the full episode or parts of the tax deductible Millionaire episode? (Since thatś kinda what this thread is about.)

[Prizes]

I can give you an anecdote of my memory, of the first run, for what that's worth--and my memory's decently sharp at least check. It was also a week, not an individual show. By far the most memorable moment here, as there were just basically a lot of 1K winners, 16K bails, etc.

This one lady, I think she was Hawaiian, possibly Asian, just steamrolls through the first 11 questions, and I'm thinking, hooo boy female Carpenter. But she runs into this nasty 125K question that she winds up having to burn all the lifelines, right in a row. Audience (basically divided, thought they'd help her), 50:50 (put it between the two the audience was stuck on), and then PAF is just about as unsure. She gambles on it, to slight leanings of audience, friend, gets it. Sadly, she walked away really fast from 250K. Her magic dropped so fast!

Weird little note: According to $500,000 winner Jim Matthews, around the same time, 2002, NY state AND its city didn't charge tax on game show earnings, though that has since changed, as I understand it. So it's fascinating...if you lived in NY(C) and were a contestant this week, you got paid exactly the same amount as you saw on the screen back home.

(Not the most bizzare story I can recall with 3 lifelines burned on a question either--32K, guy uses audience, fairly torn, A, as pack leader was only like 35%. 50:50 leaves audience and answer, A, and D, their last favorite. PAF says go with A, quite sure. Guy goes with D, something about Professor Brown, I believe, and is right. Crazy sequence. Wound up with something around 64K.)

Haven't seen those in over 10 years now...but I remember a lot about everything. So yeah.

[pjbwriter]

Not sure what the rates are but Chris over here used to always make reference to the fact that the prize was tax free particular when someone won the big one.

I'm sure that I read in a book somewhere a $1,000,000 after tax was about the equivalent of £350,000 - not certain if that's the rate now - the book was written sometime around 2002-2003

[millionairefan64]

I never really liked millionaire winnings getting taxed. If I won a million on the show I wouldn't want any of it taken away.

[kplewisvox]

Mar 17, 2014 15:11:44 GMT -5 millionairefan64 said:

I never really liked millionaire winnings getting taxed. If I won a million on the show I wouldn't want any of it taken away.

I don't want any of my paycheck taken away either. But dem's da breaks.

[Kimarough]

Here in NZ, there is no taxes on any cash prizes we get.
Woo!!

[Mech]

Hi,

The amounts in the OP aren't correct as there are many factors that go into the tax rate. I spoke with one of the contestants on the show whose video I uploaded several years ago. They won $250,000 and $97,000 of it was paid to Uncle Sam. In my experience with talking to people on this subject, the average rate floats around 38-39%.

The tax rate is also divided into two areas: winnings up to $250,000 and winnings over $250,000. The prior is taxed at one time, whereas winning $500,000 or $1 Million is a multi-year thing since it's an annuity. ($250,000 the first year and the balance paid in equal installments over 10/20 years respectively. Tax is filed and deducted depending on the amount received and your tax bracket each year.)

For a more detailed explanation, keep reading. If tax talk bores you, stop here.

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax expert. I don't prepare other people's taxes and I don't keep current on tax law. The following examples are from outside sources. Your mileage may vary. No Refunds. Void where prohibited.

The tax bracket the person is in is based on several factors, the most common being your regular income from your job. If you made $75,000 last year and won $250,000 on Millionaire, then your total income for the year is $325,000 which will increase your overall tax amount for the entire year (as opposed to the lower $75,000 bracket). Instead of paying 21% tax for the year, you suddenly shoot to 39% (numbers are completely fabricated).

There have been several articles written about tax consequences of being on a game show, "The Price is Right" being the commonly referenced one. In general, the contestant has to claim their winnings as income in the state where the prize was won. They then have to report their winnings AGAIN in their home state when they file their taxes, but receive an appropriate credit. 

For example (and these numbers are again, fabricated, and for illustration only):
If you live in Texas where the tax rate is 10% and win $100,000 in New York where the tax rate is 20%, you have to pay $20,000 as income tax in New York. You then have to claim $100,000 in income in Texas when you get home and it's tax time. But, the $20,000 you paid from New York is applied as a credit towards the Texas tax. Unfortunately, if the amount you paid from New York is greater than what you would have paid in Texas ($10,000 in this case) then you don't get the difference back.


This is all purely based on articles available online and talking to several contestants. In the original case at the top of the post, one of the contestant's family members actually posted the information as a comment in the video, and the contestant contacted me and asked me to remove it. They did confirm that it was accurate though.

Mech

[!Tommy]

For the Michigan Lottery, I believe anything below $600, you don't have to claim the winnings and therefor you're not taxed on anything less than that. I don't know if the same would apply to Millionaire or not, especially being New York and how the federal works with that.

[thorklein]

I can confirm this tommy. Anything below $600 if it is lottery or game show is tax free. I can speak from experience i was a contestant on trivial pursuit america plays. I was on the american team and the group won in a squeaker game with the in house player losing on the 5k question giving the team the win. So everyone on that group won $550 including me. I still have the cover letter they sent me stashed away somewhere for kicks & giggles.

[Deleted]

OK, my turn.

In Poland, If you win on the lottery, or a tv/radio game show anything fewer than 760 PLN (that's a little less than $250), it's tax free, so you get to keep the full amount of money that you've won. Anything more than 760 PLN, then you need to pay 10% of the tax. So, if you win, for example 100,000 PLN on a game show, you have to pay 10,000 PLN of tax keeping 90,000 PLN and walk away

[fabman650]

Millionaire US Clocked Money Tree 2 in GBP

£303.12 ($500)
£606.24 ($1,000)
£1,212.49 ($2,000)
£1,818.73 ($3,000)
£3,031.22 ($5,000)
£4,546.83 ($7,500)
£6,062.44 ($10,000)
£7,578.05 ($12,500)
£9,093.66 ($15,000)
£15,156.10 ($25,000)
£30,312.20 ($50,000)
£60,624.40 ($100,000)
£151,561.00 ($250,000)
£303,122.00 ($500,000)
£606,244.00 ($1,000,000)

Who Wants To Win Just Over 600k?

[kplewisvox]

In the U.S., nothing at all is tax-free. If you win $600 or more, the show (or lottery or whatever) is supposed to issue you a 1099. Less than $600, you don't get the 1099, but you still have to pay taxes. Income is income.